Franklin County drugs cases dismissed after detective’s suicide

More than a dozen Franklin County drug cases have been dismissed following the arrest and subsequent suicide of a former Reynoldsburg police detective last month.

Detective Tye Downard was being held at the Delaware County Jail for the federal court when he was found to have hanged himself in his cell on Feb. 22.

According to documents filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office has been reviewing all of Downard’s drug cases to determine the integrity of the investigations.

Downard, 43, was arrested by U.S. marshals on Feb. 18 after authorities say he made more than 20 narcotic deliveries between October 2015 and February, according to the Associated Press.

The investigation into his death is still ongoing, the local sheriff’s office reports.

According the court documents, Downard was giving drugs to an informant to sell and sharing the proceeds. Documents further state that it may be inferred that Downard was stealing part of the drugs from seizures and providing them for resale.

“In the interests of justice and the integrity and confidence in the prosecution of this case, the state requests [the charges be dismissed],” prosecutors write in filings for Zachary Simcoe, a Columbus man charged with the illegal manufacture of drugs, possession of drugs and two counts of trafficking in drugs.